Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English
−A Survey of Gender and Age-related Usage of
Greetings, Leave-takings, Thanks, and Apologies.
Axel Harting, M. A.
１. Introduction
The motivation for this study derives from my experience as an L２ learner of English aspiring to communicate appropriately in Australia. After nine years of formal English instruction at school, I had to face up to the fact that I was not able to adequately perform basic speech acts such as greetings, leave-takings, thanks, and apologies. The problem was not so much making myself understood or comprehending what my interlocutors’ wanted to communicate, but rather the lack of knowledge of an adequate usage of basic pragmatic idioms used to perform simple linguistic exchanges.
Interacting appropriately in the target language should become a priority for L２ learners who want to live, work, study, or travel in the country where the language is spoken. In order to enable L２ students to do this, they need to be taught what pragmatic idioms there are to choose from and how to employ them effectively in different situations. L２ text books usually only include standard forms like Hello,
Good Bye, Thank you, I’m sorry, etc., but as we will see below in English
native-speaker interaction a much larger variety of tokens is used to perform these speech acts. In order to include pragmatic aspects in second language instruction, lists of different tokens to choose from have to be set up and rules for their choice
established. Since their actual use varies according to age, gender, and social status of the interlocutors as well as the local dialect of the speech community, these aspects also have to be taken into account.
This paper is an attempt to give an overview of age and gender-related use of pragmatic idioms for greetings, leave-takings, thanks, apologies , and their acknowledgements in Australian English（AusE）. The results presented below are based on a survey undertaken in metropolitan Sydney. The paper starts with a presentation of pragmatic theory, which will provide the theoretical framework for this study（section２）. Section３will describe the investigation methods used in this survey, and the final section（４）will be devoted to a presentation of the results.
２. Theoretical Framework
This survey is based on assumptions of pragmatic theory. It explores how individual speakers employ different expressions from a given speech variety to perform functions like greeting, taking leave, thanking, and apologising within a defined situation and with different interactants.
Austin（１９６２）suggested that utterances can be seen as actions since speakers may change the state of affairs or may impact their interactants’ social status by their words. He claimed that all utterances have a so-called speech act force. To illustrate his notion of speech acts he distinguishes between the conventional meaning or proposition of an utterance, the speaker’s intention, and achieving certain effects on the interactant as is demonstrated in following figure１.
Figure!
Speech Act
Illocutionary Act Perlocutionary Act Locutionary Act
The locutionary act is the basic act of uttering or producing a meaningful linguistic expression. The illocutionary act is the communicative purpose of the utterance, and the perlocutionary act describes the intended effect of the utterance. Various scholars have dealt with a further classification of illocutionary acts（cf. Searle.１９６９, １９７５, １９７９）. For this study, I would like to present a bottom-up approach proposed by Edmondson and House（１９８１）.
The speech acts selected from their model are Apologies, Excuses/Justifies,
Forgives , Thanks , Minimizes , Greetings , How-are-yous , Welcomes , Wish-wells ,
and Leave-takes. They differentiate between Apologies, Excuses, and Justifies.
Apologies have the function “to placate the hearer and to restore thereby one’s own
social status, following a real or potential offence”（ibid.１５３）. By using an Excuse the “speaker admits that what he did was undesirable but suggests that there are or were mitigating circumstances which lessen the blame attached to himself, e. g. physical, mental or emotional stress, ignorance, and so on”（ibid.１５７−８）. With a
Justifiy “the speaker seeks to persuade that what he did was ‘justified’, such that no
blame attaches to himself for having done it” （ibid.１５８）. The obligatory acknowledgements of Apologies, Excuses and Justifies are called Forgives, which “restore[s] the social status of the hearer”（ibid.１６１）.
Thanks are defined as an illocution, which “is used when a speaker believes he
has received a social or material benefit from the addressee”（ibid.１６３）. These are in turn acknowledged by Minimizes, in which the speaker “should underplay or suppress his own benefits. Minimizes can also be transmitted non-verbally, for example by smiles or gestures.
Greetings, How-are-yous and Welcomes are defined as openings and Wish-wells and Leave-takes, as closing ritual illocutions. “In performing a Greet[ing] a
speaker ritually recognises the presence of the hearer, and salutes him as a fellow social member”（ibid.１８８）, whereas “in using a How-are-you, a speaker asks after
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
the hearer, or a close relative or friend of the hearer’s, in order to express a ritual interest in his welfare”（ibid.１８９）. As in Greetings the interactants establish or maintain contact by exchanging these formulae, in the case of How-are-yous by showing interest in the social well-being of the interlocutor. How-are-yous are usually preceded by Greetings, which may be omitted. In this case the
How-are-you takes over the function of the Greet. In a Welcome, finally, “a speaker
expresses his positive emotional attitude towards meeting the hearer”（ibid.６０）.
Greetings are usually returned by the same or different ritual tokens of the same
category. There is no alternative to reciprocating a Greet. If one fails to return a
Greet it may be considered as an insult or an unusual disturbance of the social
relation. How-are-yous are usually answered or may be acknowledged by ritual
Thanks, or if regarded as Greetings they may only be reciprocated. Welcomes are
ritually acknowledged by Thanks.
Leave-takes have the “function to bridge the gap between the termination of the
ongoing encounter, and the resumption of social contact at the next time of meeting” （ibid.１９７）. Leave-takes as well as Greetings are normally reciprocated.
Wish-wells are similar in function to Leave-takes. They can either be reciprocated,
acknowledged by Thanks or satisfied by non-verbal means, like waving or nodding. The actual linguistic tokens used in AusE to perform the speech acts above will be examined in section４.
３. Methods
The study draws on socioliguistic investigation methods, such as observation, interviews（qualitative）, and questionnaires（quantitative）. Prior to the survey, data was collected from dictionaries and data-based articles on AusE（Ramson１９８８; Collins and Blair１９８９; Seal１９９９; Delbridge１９８１）and from ‘real-life’ situations. Careful observations were made of how people greeted, said good-bye, thanked,
and apologized. A questionnaire was set up in order to obtain data on the frequency with which the tokens collected were used, and to determine to what extend speaker variables influence to choice of particular tokens,.
The first part of the questionnaire was dedicated to personal data about the informant, which covered the main sociolinguistic variables such as gender, age, social class, ethnic and linguistic background. Another part was dedicated to
Thanks, Apologies, and their acknowledgements. Special emphasis was put on the
situation in which the different tokens were used, because in contrast to Greetings and Leave-takings, it is not so much the addressee who plays a crucial role, but rather the situational context. An attempt was made to think of different situations which − for the addressee − involved different levels of gratitude（for Thanks）or damage inflicted by them（for Apologies）. For each of the sections a number of pre -supposed tokens, which were considered to be the most frequent ones, were supplied. The informant was asked to tick the one（s）s/he uses, and blanks were left to elicit alternative tokens. After each of the sections a category for acknowledgements was included, which only contained a blank.
In the final section on Greetings and Leave-takings special emphasis was placed on the interlocutors, because the degree of formality which is chosen primarily resides in the relationship to the addressees rather than in the circumstances in which the encounter takes place. Once again pre-supposed tokens, which were selected from the list set up earlier, and blanks for alternatives were provided. In order to account for the level of formality, five groups of addressees were chosen （fleeting acquaintances, strangers, close friends, superiors, and elderly people （respect））. A further differentiation was made as to whether the addressee was
male or female. Finally, the frequency with which the tokens were used was also
accounted for, by asking the informants to tick whether they used the given expression rarely, sometimes, often, or never.
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
In total １５０ questionnaires were handed out at and around University ; to strangers, fleeting acquaintances, colleagues, and friends. ６２ questionnaires were returned, ４０of which were selected for the following analysis. ２０males（M）and ２０ females（F）were selected respectively ; １０ of each group were２９ years or
younger（M−／F−）and１０ were３０ years or older（M＋／F＋）.
４. Results and Discussion
The results of the survey will be presented in the form of tables, which list the frequency of the pre-supposed tokens according to the variables of age and gender. The elicited tokens will be listed in separate tables. The figures will be compared with results of previous sociolinguistic studies. The discussion is based on the following hypotheses :
１. There is a great variety of different tokens which are used to perform the functions of thanking, apologising, greeting or taking leave.
２. Situational context as well as the addressee are decisive factors for the choice of the token used.
３. The choice of the token varies according to age and gender.
４. Young people used more non-standardised terms and informal language. ５. More formal language is used towards and by elderly people.
６. The language of women is more polite.
７. Thanks can function as leave-takings and How-are-yous can function as
greetings.
４．１．Thanks and Minimizes
Tables１a−d list the frequency with which different pre-supposed and elicited tokens were used in four situations that involve more or less gratitude. Below are the informants’ replies to the question “How do you thank if ... ? ” :
F− F＋ M− M＋ T Thank you ! ８ ９ ７ ８ ３２ Thanks ! ４ ３ ７ ４ １８ Cheers ! １ １ ２ １ ５ Ta ! ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ Thanks a lot ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
Thanks very much ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
Sensational ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
Phantastic ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
Thank you very much ! ０ ０ ０ １ １
F− F＋ M− M＋ T Thanks ! ７ ５ ６ ６ ２４ Thank you ! ４ ７ ４ ３ １８ Cheers ! ２ ０ １ ２ ５ Ta ! ３ ０ １ １ ５ Thanks a lot ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
Thanks very much ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
（smile） １ ０ ０ ０ １ （nod ） ０ １ ０ ０ １ Thanks, mate ! ０ ０ １ ０ １ F− F＋ M− M＋ T Thank you ! ８ ８ ７ ９ ３２ Thanks ! ２ ５ ３ ３ １３ Cheers ! ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ Ta ! ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ Thanks a lot ! １ ０ １ ０ ２
Thanks very much ! １ ０ ０ １ ２
Thank you very much ! ０ １ １ ０ ２
Thanks so much ! ０ ０ ０ １ １
How nice ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
o-o-o-oh ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
Thanks man ! ０ ０ １ ０ １
Table１a : ... a waiter serves you
Table１b : ... somebody lets you by
Table１c : ... somebody gives you a present
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
Since the degree of gratitude involved plays a significant role in the choice of token, the informants clearly distinguished between situations like ‘... waiter serves
you’ and ‘... somebody gives you a present’, where a rather high level of gratitude is
involved, and the more casual encounters of ‘... somebody lets you by’ and ‘... you
are receiving change’, where the act of thanking tends to be more ritualised. As
has been suggested by earlier sociolinguistic studies, the politeness of an utterance depends on the number of words a speaker uses to perform his/her speech act. For the act of thanking, this hypothesis was substantiated by the data obtained. In ‘high-gratitude’ situations the complete expression “Thank you ! ” is favoured to it’s abbreviated form “Thanks ! ” and additional longer tokens like “Thank you very
much ! ” or “Thanks so much ! ” were mentioned by the informants. In the
‘low-gratitude’ encounters the abbreviated “Thanks ! ” seems to be more appropriate and if ‘... somebody lets you by’ a smile or a nod would be sufficient. This is also reflected in the usage of the more informal British interjection “Ta ! ”, which only seems to be suitable for ‘low-gratitude’ situations. “Ta ! ” therefore appears to be a more ritualised and rather serves as an acknowledgement. From a pragmalinguistic point of view, it is interesting to see that almost all the tokens which were mentioned in this category contain the performative verb ‘to thank’, suggesting that there seems to be a need for being explicit in performing the act of thanking.
Thanks do not show any significant differences or preferences as far as the variables
of age and gender are concerned.
F− F＋ M− M＋ T Thanks ! ８ ８ ９ ８ ３３ Thank you ! ４ ５ ４ ２ １５ Ta ! ２ ０ １ １ ４ Cheers ! ２ ０ ０ ０ ２ Right ! ０ ０ ０ １ １
Table１d : ... you are receiving change
Thanks are acknowledged with Minimizes. Tables２a−d list the frequency of
the elicited tokens according to four different situations. Below are the informants’ replies to the question “How do you acknowledge a thank if somebody thanks you
for... ? ” : F− F＋ M− M＋ T That’s Ok ! ４ ２ ３ １ １０ You’re welcome ! ２ ３ ３ １ ９ No problem ! ２ ２ ０ １ ５ No worries ! ２ ０ ２ ０ ４ That’s alright ! ０ ０ ０ ２ ２ My pleasure ! ０ １ ０ １ ２ Don’t mention it ! ０ １ ０ １ ２ That’s fine ! ０ １ ０ １ ２ You’ll be right ! ０ ０ １ ０ １ Quite welcome ! ０ ０ ０ １ １ Thanks ! ０ １ ０ ０ １ Pleasure ! ０ ０ ０ １ １ No need to thank me ! ０ ０ １ ０ １ Welcome ! ０ ０ １ ０ １ No problems ! ０ ０ １ ０ １ That’s cool ! ０ ０ １ ０ １ Anytime ! １ ０ ０ ０ １ It’s a pleasure. ０ １ ０ ０ １ Not a problem ! １ ０ ０ ０ １ no acknowledgement ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ F− F＋ M− M＋ T That’s Ok ! ２ ０ ４ １ ７ （no acknowledgement） １ ２ ０ ３ ６ You’re welcome ! １ ２ １ ０ ４ Thank you ! ２ ０ １ １ ４ Thanks ! １ ０ ０ ２ ３
Table２a : ... doing him/her a favour
Table２b : ... paying
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
F− F＋ M− M＋ T That’s alright ! ０ １ １ ０ ２ No problem ! １ ０ １ ０ ２ My pleasure ! １ ０ ０ １ ２ smile １ ０ １ ０ ２ Pleasure ! ０ ０ １ ０ １
That’s quite alright ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
Oh, please ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
It’s nothing ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
Shush ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
Don’t worry ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
No need for that ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
It’s a pleasure ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
Thank you very much ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
Not a problem ! ０ ０ １ ０ １ Anytime ! ０ ０ １ ０ １ F− F＋ M− M＋ T You’re welcome ! １ ２ ７ １ １１ My pleasure ! １ ２ ３ １ ７ Pleasure ! ４ ０ ０ ２ ６ That’s Ok ! １ １ ３ ０ ５ smile / nod １ ２ ０ ０ ３ That is fine ! ０ ０ ０ １ １ That’s alright ! ０ ０ ０ １ １ Don’t mention it ! ０ ０ ０ １ １ Glad to. ０ ０ ０ １ １ It’s nothing. ０ １ ０ ０ １ OK ! ０ １ ０ ０ １ No worries ! ０ １ ０ ０ １ It’s a pleasure ! ０ １ ０ ０ １ No problem ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
I hope you like it ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
I saw it and I knew it was perfect for you ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
Open it ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
You’re quite welcome ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
no acknowledgement ０ ０ ０ ０ ０
Table２c : ... receiving a present from you
First it becomes apparent that there is a large variety of different tokens that are used to acknowledge Thanks, which supports hypothesis１. Secondly, it is revealed that Minimizes are not as uniform as Thanks. They can express different attitudes towards the person who utters the thank-you. There are, for example, acknowledgements which make the addressee feel at ease by expressing that there is no need thank or worry, since no efforts had to be made on the part of the thankee, as is presented by the tokens “Not a problem ! ”, “No worries ! ”, “Don’t mention
it ! ”. Furthermore, there are Minimizes which accept the Thank and assure the
addressee that the status quo is maintained, as in “That is fine ! ”, “That’s OK ! ”, “That’s quite alright ! ”. Other tokens express that the action for which they are being thanked was even a pleasure for the person who performed it, as in “It’s a
pleasure ! ”, “My pleasure ! ”, “Glad to ! ” or “Anytime ! ”. As mentioned earlier Thanks can also be acknowledged by using the same tokens like “Thank you ! ” or
“Thanks ! ”. F− F＋ M− M＋ T That’s OK ! ５ ０ ２ １ ８ smile / nod １ ２ １ ０ ４ That’s alright ! ０ ０ ２ ２ ４ You’re welcome ! ２ ０ １ １ ４ No worries ! １ １ ２ ０ ４ Thanks ! ０ ０ ０ ３ ３ It’s OK ! ０ ２ １ ０ ３ No problem ! ２ ０ ０ ０ ２
Thank you very much ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
You’re right ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
You’re most welcome ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
Ta ! ０ ０ ０ １ １
It’s fine ! ０ ０ ０ １ １
no acknowledgement ０ ０ １ ０ １
Table２d : ... letting him/her by
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
By taking a closer look at the different Minimizes, it seems that the same or similar tokens appear in all situations. However, as was the case with Thanks, there seem to be certain preferences for the choice of particular tokens. The most favoured token for all situations is “That’s OK ! ”, yet other tokens only seem to be appropriate for acknowledgements to either ‘low-gratitude’-thanks such as “Ta ! ”, as is the case when somebody thanks you for ‘letting him/her by’, or to ‘high-gratitude’-thanks, which sometimes induce non-ritualised acknowledgements as “I
saw it and I knew it was perfect for you ! ”. In the encounters where more gratitude
is shown from the person who utters the thank-you, likewise more politeness is expected for its acknowledgement. Thus it seems to be obligatory to use an appropriate Minimize if somebody thanks you for ‘receiving a present from you’, whereas no acknowledgement is required if somebody thanks you for ‘paying’. As far as an age and gender specific usage of Minimizes is concerned, the only noticeable difference is that “That’s OK ! ” is a token which is favoured by young people.
４．２．Apologies and Forgives
This section will examine the use of tokens for Apologies, Excuses and their acknowledgements “Forgives”. While the situations in section ４.１. differed according to the level of gratitude involved, the situations listed in Tables ３a−f show differences at the level of the offence which caused by the person who apologises. The following tables show the informants’ replies to the question “How
do you apologize / excuse if ... ? ” :
F− F＋ M− M＋ T
Excuse me ! ９ ９ ７ ９ ３４
Sorry ! １ ０ ０ １ ２
Pardon me ! ０ ０ ２ ０ ２
Table３a : ... you want attract somebody’s attention
F− F＋ M− M＋ T
I apologise ! ０ ０ ０ ０ ０
Scuse mate ! ０ ０ １ ０ １
Hey ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
signs / gestures ０ ０ １ ０ １
call their name ０ １ ０ ０ １
wave １ ０ ０ ０ １ F− F＋ M− M＋ T Sorry ! ９ ９ ９ ８ ３５ Excuse me ! ３ １ ２ １ ７ Pardon me ! ０ １ １ １ ３ I apologise ! ０ ０ ０ １ １
I’m terribly sorry ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
Terribly sorry ! ０ ０ １ ０ １
I beg your pardon ! ０ ０ ０ １ １
Sorry dude ! ０ ０ １ ０ １ F− F＋ M− M＋ T Excuse me ! ６ ８ ７ ６ ２７ Pardon me ! ５ ４ １ １ １１ Sorry ! １ ２ １ ２ ６ I apologise ! ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ nothing １ ０ １ ０ ２ F− F＋ M− M＋ T Excuse me ! ９ １０ ８ ７ ３４ Sorry ! ０ １ ０ １ ２ Pardon me ! ０ ０ ２ ０ ２ I apologise ! ０ ０ ０ ０ ０
Table３b : ... you bump into somebody
Table３c : ... you are sneezing in somebody’s presence
Table３d : ... you want to pass by
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
In analysing these encounters, it is important to differentiate between apologies and excuses. The situations ‘bumping into somebody’ and ‘you want to express
F− F＋ M− M＋ T Sorry ? ５ ４ ５ ６ ２０ Pardon me ? ３ ４ １ ３ １１ Excuse me ? ３ ３ ３ １ １０ I apologise ? ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ Pardon ? １ １ １ ０ ３ Say again ! ０ １ １ ０ ２
Wha t ? （close friends） １ ０ １ ０ ２
I beg your pardon ? １ １ ０ ０ ２
Come again ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
Sorry, I didn’t get that ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
Would you mind repeating ? ０ １ ０ ０ １
Could you say that again, please ? ０ ０ １ ０ １ Could you please repeat that ? １ ０ ０ ０ １
What was that ? ０ ０ １ ０ １
Again ! ０ ０ ０ １ １ F− F＋ M− M＋ T Sorry ! ７ ４ ７ ５ ２３ I apologise ! ４ ３ １ ５ １３ Excuse me ! １ ０ ０ ０ １ Pardon me ! ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ I’m sorry ! １ １ １ １ ４ I’m so sorry ! １ ０ ０ １ ２
Is there something I can do ? １ ０ ０ ０ １
I’m very sorry ! ０ ０ ０ １ １
Please accept my regrets ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
I’m sorry to hear that ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
I’m terribly sorry for... ０ ０ １ ０ １
Tough break ! ０ ０ １ ０ １
an understanding look ０ １ ０ ０ １
Table３e : ... you are asking to repeat what somebody said
Table３f : ... you want to express regret
your regret’ could be seen as a true offence for which an Apology is required,
whereas the other situations can be described as ‘low-offence’-encounters for which an Excuse would suffice. Some informants expressed that they would not excuse or apologise at all, by explicitly writing “nothing ! ”. In fact, the token “I
apologise ! ”, which includes the perfomative verb, was only ticked in the two ‘high
-offence’-situations. This difference is underlined by the high frequency of the rather ritualised “Excuse me ! ” in ordinary excuse-situations as compared to the less frequent apologetic forms of “Sorry ! ” or “I apologise ! ”. As was the case with
Thanks（for the level of gratitude）the length of the token used here, corresponds to
the level of offence. The longer tokens “Please accept my regrets ! ” and “I’m
terribly sorry for ...” are confined to situations where the informant apologises for a
strong offence. An interesting aspect concerning the degree of politeness can be seen in the situation of ‘asking to repeat what somebody said ’, in which, instead of simply using a ritualised token such as “Come again ! ” or “What was that ? ”, the informants mentioned as alternatives rather explicit questions such as “Would you
mind repeating ? ” or “Could you say that again, please ? ”.
There are only slight differences concerning the variables of age and gender. For example, the rather polite token “Pardon me ! ”, as an excuse for ‘sneezing in
somebody’s presence’, is favoured by women, which seems to support hypothesis６.
Only young people wrote explicitly that they do not excuse themselves for sneezing and that they use the rather impolite “What ? ” for ‘asking somebody to repeat what
s/he said ’. This can be seen as an indicator of the relative lack of politeness among
young people as opposed to the tendency towards formal language used by older people, which was stated in hypothesis５.
Apologies and Excuses are acknowledged using Forgives. Tables４a−d list
the frequency of the elicited tokens according to four different situations. Below are the informants’ replies to the question “How do you acknowledge if apologises /
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
excuses for... ? ” : F− F＋ M− M＋ T Bless you ! ５ ４ ４ ３ １６ no acknowledgement ２ ２ ２ ２ ８ That’s OK ! １ ０ ２ ２ ５ smile １ １ １ ０ ３ Don’t worry ! １ ０ ０ １ ２ That’s alright ! １ ０ ０ １ ２ It’s OK ! ０ １ ０ ０ １ Apology accepted ! ０ １ ０ ０ １ Excuse you ! ０ ０ ０ １ １ Never mind ! ０ ０ ０ １ １
God bless you ! ０ ０ ０ １ １
No problem ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
Gesundheit ! ０ ０ １ ０ １
F− F＋ M− M＋ T
That’s OK ! ６ １ ５ １ １３
No problem ! ３ ０ ０ １ ４
Don’t worry about it ! ２ １ ３ １ ４
It’s OK ! ０ ４ ０ ０ ４ That’s fine ! ２ ０ １ ０ ３ Don’t worry ! １ ０ ０ １ ２ depends on situation ０ ２ ０ ０ ２ That’s alright ! ０ １ ０ ０ １ No worries ! ０ ０ １ ０ １ Forget it ! １ ０ ０ ０ １ You’re right ! １ ０ ０ ０ １ Not a problem ! １ ０ ０ ０ １ Never mind ! ０ ０ ０ １ １ Don’t do it again ! ０ ０ ０ １ １
Table４a : ... causing you inconvenience
Table４b : ... sneezing in your presence
As was the case with Minimizes, Forgives show a large variety of different tokens. Once again we find rather ritualised tokens like “That’s OK ! ” or “No
worries ! ” and more explicit ones like “You should pay more attention ! ” or “Don’t do it again ! ”. Like Minimizes, Forgives may also reflect different attitudes
towards the addressee. There are Forgives which make the addressee feel at ease by expressing that there is no need to apologise since no real offence has been done, as is implied by the tokens “Never mind ! ” and “No worries ! ”. Furthermore, there are acknowledgements in which the speaker accepts the Apology and assures the
F− F＋ M− M＋ T
Yes ? ３ ４ ５ ３ １５
Yeah ? １ ２ １ １ ５
Can I help you ? １ ０ １ ０ ２
What can I do for you ? ０ １ ０ ０ １
You want me ? ０ １ ０ ０ １ Yes, what is it ? １ ０ ０ ０ １ Excuse me ? ０ ０ ０ １ １ I’m sorry ? ０ ０ ０ １ １ F− F＋ M− M＋ T That’s OK ! ６ ２ ６ ３ １７ It’s OK ! ０ ４ １ １ ６ That’s alright ! １ ０ ０ ３ ４ Don’t worry ! １ １ ０ １ ３ No worries ! １ １ １ ０ ３
Don’t worry about it ! ２ ０ ０ ０ ２
No problem ! １ ０ ０ １ ２
smile ０ １ １ ０ ２
You should pay more attention ! １ ０ ０ ０ １
That’s fine ! ０ １ ０ ０ １
You’re right ! ０ ０ １ ０ １
Table４c : ... bumping into you
Table４d : ... attracting your attention
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
interlocutor that the status in their social relation is maintained, as in “That’s fine ! ”, “That’s OK ! ”, “Excuse you ! ” or “Apology accepted ”. There are instances in which an Apology can be returned with another Apology, for example, when two people bump into each other and it is not evident whose fault it was.
No acknowledgement is required for ‘sneezing in somebody’s presence’ or when somebody excuses ‘attracting attention’. In the second case questions like “What can I do for you ? ” or “Yes, what is it ? ” seem to be more appropriate. As was the case with Minimizes, there are no significant age or gender differences in the use of Forgives, except for the token “That’s OK ! ”, which is again favoured by young people.
４．３．Greetings
The results for Greetings and Leave-takings will also be presented in the form of tables. The number of informants who ticked a particular token for a certain interlocutor（fleeting acquaintances, strangers, friends, superiors, elderly people）are given as percentages. The figures listed in the tables are the added percentages for informants who use the token sometimes and often.
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ２０ ５ １５ ５ ０
M ３０ ３０ ５０ ２５ ５
−２９ ２０ １５ ２５ ５ ５
３０＋ ３０ ２０ ４０ ２５ １５
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ２５ １５ ２５ ５ ５ M ５０ ４５ ６５ １５ ５ −２９ ５５ ３５ ４０ ０ ０ ３０＋ ２０ ２５ ２５ ５０ １０ Tables５a−i : Greetings ５a : G’Day ! ５b : How is it going ? ７０ 言語文化研究 第２４巻 第２号
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ３０ ２５ ７０ １５ ２０
M ４０ ４０ ５０ ４５ ４５
−２９ ５０ ３０ ６５ ３０ ４０
３０＋ ２０ ２５ ５５ ３０ ２５
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ８０ ７０ ６５ ６５ ６０
M ６５ ７０ ６０ ３５ ６０
−２９ ７０ ７５ ６５ ７５ ６０
３０＋ ７５ ６５ ６０ ５５ ６０
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ７５ ７０ ８５ ４０ ５０
M ６０ ４５ ７０ ７５ ４０
−２９ ８０ ７０ ８０ ４０ ４５
３０＋ ６５ ４５ ７５ ４０ ４５
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ２５ ５ ４０ ５ ５
M ４５ ３０ ５０ １０ ０
−２９ ５０ １０ ２０ １０ ０
３０＋ １５ １０ ２０ １０ ０
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ６５ ６０ ４０ ７５ ７０
M ４５ ５０ ４０ ６５ ５５
−２９ ５５ ５５ ４０ ８５ ７０
３０＋ ５５ ５５ ４０ ５５ ５５
5 c : How are you going ?
5 d : Hello !
5 e : Hi ?
5 f : Hey !
5 g : Good Morning ! Good evening ! ...
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
If not indicated differently, the percentages in brackets in the following discussion refer to the total of informants（F＋M ）who ticked（s/o）. A typical
Australian Greeting is “G’Day ! ”, which is frequently used for fleeting acquaintances（２５％）and close friends（３２．５％）. It seems to be favoured by males and people over ３０ regardless of the addressee. “How is it going ? ” shows a similar pattern. Its usage when adressing elderly people（１０％）and superiors （２０％）is markedly low and restricted to speakers over３０. Another typical Australian Greeting is “How are you going ? ”, which is commonly used for all addressees, especially close friends（６０％）. It is slightly preferred by males and by younger people. The most popular Greeting, however, is “Hello ! ”, which is a rather formal token in AusE and is preferred by women and younger people. It is frequently used for all groups of addressees, particularly fleeting acquaintances （７２．５％）and strangers（７０％）. Another popular Greeting, slightly less formal, is “Hi ! ”, which is used very often for close friends（７７．５％）, but also for fleeting acquaintances（６７．５％）and slightly less frequently for superiors（４０％）and elderly people（４５％）. The most informal Greeting is “Hey ! ”, which is indicated by the
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ７５ ６０ ９０ ８０ ９０
M ５５ ５５ ７５ ６０ ７０
−２９ ７０ ５５ ８０ ７０ ８０
３０＋ ６０ ６０ ８５ ７０ ８０
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ０ ０ ０ ０ ０
M ０ ０ １５ ０ ５
−２９ ０ ０ １０ ０ ０
３０＋ ５ ０ ５ ０ ５
５h : How are you ?
５i : Are you going alright ?
low frequency with which it is used for superiors（７．５％）and elderly people（２．５％）, likewise it shows only limited usage for fleeting acquaintances（３２．５％）and strangers （１７．５％）. It is, however, quite popular among close friends（４５％）. This token is slightly preferred by males and younger people, and only towards strangers, friends, and fleeting acquaintances. The very formal Greetings “Good morning ! ”, “Good afternoon ! ” and “Good evening ! ” find a limited use among close friends （３５％）, but have a rather high distribution among superiors（７０％）, elderly people （６２．５％）, and strangers（５５％）. Another rather formal Greeting is “How are
you ? ”, which is used quite often for all groups of addressees, except strangers（only
５７．５％）as compared to elderly people（８０％）and close friends（８２．５％）. It is generally preferred by women for all groups of addressees. According to my observation, the Greeting “Are you going alright ? ” was commonly used, however, this was not substantiated by the data obtained. Apart from the pre-supposed
Greetings, the survey revealed a large variety of other Greetings, which are listed in
Table６. The table reveals that the Greetings differ significantly between genders ; there is not a single token which has been mentioned by both.
Male−２９ Male３０＋ Female−２９ Female３０＋
Hiya ! How are you today ? Hi there ! How are things ?
How you doin’? Hi, how are you ? How’s things ?
What’s up ? Hey, how are you ?
How are you today ? Oy !
Nice meeting you ! How’s things ? What’s happening ?
What’s up ? What’s doing ?
Table６: Elicited Greetings
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
４．４．Leave-Takings
The results of the use of pre-supposed and elicited Leave-takings will be presented in the same fashion as Greetings.
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ６５ ４０ ９０ ３０ ５５
M ６５ ４５ ８０ ４５ ５０
−２９ ７０ ５０ ８５ ３０ ５０
３０＋ ６０ ３５ ８５ ４５ ６５
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ３５ １５ ６０ １０ １０
M ６５ ５５ ８５ ３０ １５
−２９ ６５ ３０ ８５ ２０ １５
３０＋ ３５ ３０ ６０ ２０ １０
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ７５ ６５ ９０ ６５ ６０
M ６０ ５０ ６５ ３５ ３５
−２９ ８５ ７０ ９０ ６５ ７０
３０＋ ５５ ４５ ６５ ３５ ２５
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ５５ ４０ ３５ ７５ ６０
M ５５ ５０ ３０ ７５ ６０
−２９ ６０ ４５ ４０ ８５ ６０
３０＋ ５０ ４５ ２５ ５５ ６０
Tables６a−h : Leave-Takings ６a : Good bye !
６b : See you later !
６c : See ya !
６d : Bye !
The rather formal Leave-taking “Good bye !,” is quite frequently used for all groups of addressees, except for close friends（only ３２．５％）, as compared to superiors（７５％）and elderly people（６０％）. It is generally preferred by women and younger people. Another quite formal Leave-taking is “See you later ! ”, which, in contrast to “Good bye ! ”, is very popular among friends（８５％）and for fleeting acquaintances（６５％）, but less frequent for strangers（４２．５％）, superiors（３７．５％）,
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F １５ １５ ２５ １０ １０
M ３５ ３０ ２０ ０ ５
−２９ ３５ ３０ ２５ １０ １５
３０＋ １５ １５ ２５ ０ ０
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ３０ １０ ３５ １０ ５
M １５ １５ ２０ ５ ５
−２９ ３０ １０ ３０ １０ ５
３０＋ １５ １０ ２５ ５ ５
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ２５ ５ ２５ ０ ０
M ３０ ２５ ４５ １５ ０
−２９ ３０ ２５ ３０ ０ ０
３０＋ １５ ５ ４０ １５ ０
acquaint. strangers friends superiors elderly
F ６０ ７０ ５０ ５５ ５０
M ５５ ６５ ５５ ７０ ７０
−２９ ５５ ６０ ４５ ６０ ５５
３０＋ ６０ ７５ ６０ ６５ ６５
６e : Thank you !
６f : Cheers !
６g : Ta !
６h : See you around !
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
and elderly people（５２．５％）. “See you later ! ”, as well as “Good bye ! ”, is preferred by females and, as far as strangers, fleeting acquaintances and close friends are concerned, also by younger people. Its informal abbreviation “See ya ! ” shows a similar pattern, however with slightly less frequency for superiors（２０％） and elderly people（１２．５％）. In contrast to its formal counterpart, it is preferred by men. Another popular Leave-taking is “Bye ! ”, which is frequently used for fleeting acquaintances（７０％）and close friends（７７．５％）, and less frequently for the remaining groups.
As stated in hypothesis ７, Thanks can also function as Leave-takings. Therefore “Thank you ! ”, and the British tokens “Cheers ! ” and “Ta ! ” have also been included in the pre-supposed Leave-takings. The use of “Thank you ! ” as a
Leave-taking is quite common and popular for all addressees, particularly strangers
（８２．５％）, as compared to close friends（５２．５％）and elderly people（６０％）. This may be due to the fact that it is mainly used in service encounters, where interaction between strangers is commonplace. “Thank you ! ” is generally preferred by people above３０and, as far as strangers and fleeting acquaintances are concerned, also by women. In contrast to that the use of the shorter forms “Cheers ! ” and “Ta ! ” is relatively low（varying between ５％ and２７．５％）for all groups of addressees. The only notable difference according to age and gender is the younger people’s preference for the token “Cheers ! ”. The Leave-taking “See you around ” is only used for fleeting acquaintances（２２．５％）, strangers（１５％）and close friends（３５％）. It shows a slight preference by male speakers. As far as the elicited Leave-takings are concerned, the results also seem to support the idea that women choose from a larger variety of different tokens.
In summary there are indeed differences in the usage of Greetings and
Leave-takings as far as the variables of age and gender are concerned. One of the
findings was that men seem to prefer the typical Australian Greetings like “G’Day ! ” and “How are you going ? ”, whereas women prefer to use the Standard English forms “Hello ! ”, “Good bye ! ”, and “How are you ? ”. This observation seems to be supported by the results of a study carried out in１９６５by Michell and Delbridge. They found that ５１％ of men spoke the locally coloured Broad
Australian, as compared to only １９％ of the women, whereas the variety of Cultivated Australian was preferred by women（with １８％）compared to only ２％
of the men（Mitchell and Delbridge１９６５: ３９）.
Cultivated Australian is, and continues to be, the variety which carries overt prestige. It is the one associated with females, private elite schools, gentility, and an English heritage. Broad Australian carries covert prestige and is associated with males, the uneducated, commonness, and republicanism. （Horvath１９８５: ４０）
In this connection women’s preference for the use of rather formal language can be observed, since they prefer the unabbreviated version “See you later ! ”, in contrast to men’s tendency to use its abbreviation “See ya ! ”. Formality also seems to be a decisive factor in age-related usage of Greetings and Leave-takings. This is,
Male−２９ Male３０＋ Female−２９ Female３０＋
Bye Bye ! Cheerio ! Anon ! Ciao !
Ciao ! Bye, mate ! Speak to you soon ! Cheerio !
Tschüß ! Ciao ! Nice to meet you !
Thanks ! Spot ya !
Table７: Elicited Leave-Takings
Pragmatic Idioms in Australian English−A Survey of Gender and
for instance, reflected by older people’s preference for the substitute Leave-taking “Thank you ! ” to “Cheers ! ”, which is in turn preferred by younger people. The popularity of “Hey ! ” and “Bye ! ” by people under３０is also indicative of this trend. As far as the addressee is concerned the same tendency can be observed : Greetings like “Hi ! ” and “Hey ! ” are hardly ever used for elderly people, whereas the very formal “Good morning ! ”, etc. seems to be the preferred tokens for this group.
５. Conclusion
As stated at the beginning, the motivation for this study originally derived from the ambition to interact and to communicate appropriately in the L２ and to ask for the integration of pragmatic aspects into second language instruction. Due to the lack of data on the actual use of pragmatic idioms in everyday conversation, a survey was carried out to determine the choice of particular tokens used to perform
Greetings, Leave-takings, Thanks, Apologies, and their acknowledgements in AusE.
The data drawn from observation, interviews, and questionnaires was quite substantive and provided a valuable source for drawing some conclusions on age and gender-related usage of pragmatic idioms in this variety.
While there were no major differences concerning the age and gender-related choice of different tokens for Thanks and Apologies, some preferences were revealed for Greetings and Leave-takings. First, there are large age and gender-related differences as far as the degree of formality is concerned. For example, more formality is used by and towards older people, whereas young people prefer more informal tokens. The same phenomenon can be observed by a gender comparison : women tend to use the standard language, while men seem to prefer the local vernacular, which is often marked by informal or even ungrammatical tokens. It was also revealed that women and young people choose from a larger variety of tokens and are more inclined to create alternative expressions, while men
and elderly people prefer the standard forms. In general, the results of this study correspond to those of other sociolinguistic studies. However, as far as AusE is concerned, the speech acts under review in this survey have not been thoroughly dealt with yet, and leave room for further investigation.
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